I’ve met tons of amazing people in the coffee world and Ratibor Hartmann stands at the top of that list. I first met Ratibor in Panama in 2011, and we instantly hit it off. He’s thoughtful, hardworking, and quality obsessed. He is kind, generous and has a big heart. When I first started buying coffee from the Hartmann’s, their coffee was very good, but not considered the upper tier of Panama coffee. Their farms were all located at lower elevations, the varieties they grew were more “regular” and they were just starting to experiment with processing methods.
Since that time, Ratibor has become a very close friend of mine and we talk coffee weekly. I visit Panama at least once per year and spend tons of time with Ratibor, his wife Tessie and the rest of the Hartmann crew. Since 2011, every time I see them, I learn about a major change or improvement to their farm. Some of these changes are at the agricultural level – varieties, farm management, new land, new plantings; while others are at the processing level – modified processing methods, new drying methods, and dark rooms.
The Hartmann farm was started in the 1960s by Ratibor “Chicho” Hartmann and now it’s managed by his five children, led by the eldest, Ratibor Jr. One of the natural evolutions of such an intimate family farm is the establishment of individual properties where each of the Hartmann siblings could be free of making their own decisions. Guarumo is the result of this evolution. In a high elevation piece of land, past the natural rainforest on the original Hartmann farm, Guarumo looks onto a massive valley. The rainforest has been preserved with coffee grown under the shade of the canopy, and the family continues to plant native trees to ensure the ecosystem's health. The land is famous for bird watching, with around 300 species recorded, and their coffee is bird-friendly certified.
Guarumo is a relatively new farm purchased by Allan and Elke Hartmann, and Ratibor and Tessie Hartmann in 2016. I remember visiting the land when Ratibor first purchased it and it was nothing but pastures. The brothers first planted Geisha and Chicho Gallo and the farm began. The first four years were really tough - the poor coffee trees had little protection from the low-pressure systems from the Atlantic and suffered greatly. In 2020, the native shade trees the brothers planted were large enough to protect the coffee trees and suddenly the farm began to produce world-class coffees. Due to the high elevation, low temperatures at night, and heavy mountain rains, the coffee trees at Guarumo have to work hard, they are small and compact, and the coffee is super unique. The coffee is so good that the Geisha from Guarumo won First Place at the 2022 Best of Panama and the Chicho Gallo followed it up in 2023 with a consecutive First Place! That’s insane!!
The coffee variety is called Chicho Gallo, a name the family gave this Ethiopian Heirloom in honour of Ratibor Chicho Hartmann. The trees look like tall Ethiopian coffee trees, the cherries are small and somewhat round. The coffee tends to have delicate notes black tea and peach… but this coffee was a special process the brothers developed for their Best of Panama lots. The process starts with a fermentation in cherry form for 30 hours. Then the coffee is depulped and the coffee goes through a honey process on raised beds for 5 days. After this initial drying, the drying is completed in a darkroom.
The result is awesome, a tropical version of the variety with super clean and complex acidity. Guarumo delivers again!
